Bracing and operating means for closures



Mfly 23, 1939. n. H. MORGAN 2,159,040

BRACING AND OPERATING MEANS FOR CLOSURES Filed April 7. 1938 I 'L in :77

Patented May 23, 1939 i PATENT OFFICE naacmc AND ornaa'rmo mus roa cnosuaas David 11. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio, casino:- to 'lruscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Michigan Application April 1, 1938, Serial No. 200,106

2 Claims. (c1. 288-74) This invention relates to bracing and operati'ng means for closure elements of the swinging type, and has for its general object to provide, on the one hand, a bracing means which is ef- 5 iective positively to hold a swinging closure against being swung either inwardly or outwardly from a closed position by pressure exerted either inwardly or outwardly thereagainst and, on the other hand, to provide, in association with such bracing means, a closure operating means which is efiective, when actuated to open the closure,

first to release said bracing means and then to swing the closure to an open position.

While the invention is capable of use in asso- 15, ciation with closures of various diiferent sizes swingable on either horizontal or vertical pivots and embodying either a single or a plurality of 'closure elements, it is of special utility where used in association with closures of the type embodying an upper, swingable section and a lower, slidable or swingable section which, when closed, is supported at its top by the bottom of said upper section;

Closures of the type referred to are employed for closingthe doorways or other openings of factory and warehouse buildings, aircraft hangars and various other structures, and the purpose in having the closure composed of upper and lower sections is to permit opening of either the entire doorway orother opening when occasion demands, or only the lower portion of the doorway or other opening when there is no necessity for opening the same throughout its height. This is important for various reasons, among which may be mentioned the'conservation of heat within a structure by maintaining the, upper closure section closed when there is no necessity for opening the same, and the conservation of energy employed for operating the 40 closure, whether it be of the power or manually operated type.

In closures of the type referred to the lower section usually is slidable horizontally to open and closed positions and usually is provided at its top with rollers which cooperate with a track carried by the bottom of the upper section. Alternatively, the lower section may, in some instances, be pivoted or otherwise connected at its top with the bottom of the upper section. 0 In either case, the bottom of the upper section serves as a support for the top of the lower section during opening and closing of the lower section and when the lower section is closed. It is important, therefore, in order to insure against undesirable inward and outward moveticularly in view to provide, in association with ment of the top of the lower-section when said section is closed, to hold the lower portion of the upper section against inward or outward movement. Accordingly, the invention has more parthe upper section, a bracing means which assumes a locked position holding the lower portion of said section securely and positively against inward or outward movement under the influence of ,wind or other pressure exerted inwardly or 10 outwardly thereagainst when said section is closed, and to provide, in association with said bracing means, an upper section opening and closing controlling means which is eifective, when operated to open said section, first to unlock 15 said bracing means. Thus, there is avoided any necessity of separately locking the bracing means following closing of the upper section, or of separately unlocking said bracing means prior to opening of said upper section, and this, in turn, 20 means that the mechanism is fool-proof and that there is no danger of the bracing means being harmed by opening or closing of the upper section.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bracing and operating means for swingable closures which is of simple construction, cheap and easy to produce and install, and which is thoroughly reliable and efllcient in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, 30 the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims, 5

In the accompanying drawing, the figure is a vertical, transverse section through a closure structure embodying the features of the invention, the open positionof the upper section being indicated by dotted lines. 4c

Referring to the draw ing in detail, A designates a portion of a building structure having a doorway i0, and B designates, generally, an associated door or .closure for said doorway comprising an upper section II and a lower section it.

The upper section ii, the specific construction of which is immaterial, is pivoted at or near its upper end, as indicated at It, to any suitable part of the building structure A preferably at or near the top of the doorway Ill, and is swingable between a vertically or substantially vertically disposed, closed position and a horizontally or substantially horizontally disposed,

likewise is held against inward or outward moveopen position, as illustrated by full and lines, respectively, in the drawing.

The lower section l2, the specific construction of which also is immaterial, is horizontally slidable in the plane thereof between closed and open positions and is provided at its top with any suitable means for interlocking cooperation with any suitable means carried by the upper section II at the bottom thereof, so that when both of the sections are closed and the upper section is held at its bottom against inward or outward movement, the top of the lower section dotted.

ment. In the present instance the upper section carries at the bottom thereof a depending flange or track It and the lower section carries at the top thereof pairs of rollers l5 which'respectively engage opposite sides of said flange or track. Thus, there is a freely slidable connection between the bottom of the upper section and the top ofthe lower section and, at the same time, said connection serves effectively to hold the adjacent ends ofsaid sections against moving either inwardly or outwardly relative to each other when both sections are closed. As will, of course, be understood, the lower section l2, at its bottom, is guided for sliding movement and is held against inward or outward movement in any suitable manner. For example, it may be provided at its bottom with rollers I6 cooperating with a fixed track H at the bottom of thedoorwayill. Moreover, and as will also be understood, when the bottom section I2 is slid to its open position,-it is disposed beyond one sideof the upper section II or, in other words, is disengaged at its top from the bottom of the upper section, so that the latter is free to be swung between its closed and open positions. Alternatively, the lower section |2 may be pivoted at its top to the bottom of the upper section and may be swingable to open and closed positions. In any case, however, the lower section, when closed, is supported at its top by the bottom of the upper section.

Therefore, in order to hold the top of the lower' section, when closed, against inward or outward movement, it is necessary to hold the bottom of the upper section against inward and outward movement. Accordingly, there is provided between the upper section II and a suitable fixed support, such as a part ofthe building structure A, a bracing and holding means for the upper section II constructed in accordance with the invention and designated generally as C.

The upper section II may be mounted to swing either upwardly and inwardly or upwardly and outwardlyfrom its closed to its open position. If said section is mounted to swing upwardly and outwardly to its open position the bracing means C will be disposed at the outer side thereof. If, on the other hand, said section is mounted to swing upwardly and inwardly to its open position, the bracing means C will be disposed at theinner side thereof. In most cases the upper section II is mounted to swing upwardly and inwardly to its open position, that is, with respect to the building structure A, and it is illustrated as being swingable in that manner in the present instance. Therefore, the bracing and holding means C is illustrated in the present instance as being disposed at the inner side of said upper section The bracing and holding means B comprises upper and lower arms l8 and I9, respectively, the former of which is pivoted at or near its upper end to a suitable fixed support, such as a part and the latter of which is pivoted at or near its lower end to the section at or near the bottom 0! the latter, as indicated at2l. At or near their other ends the arms It and It are pivotally connected together, as indicated at 22, and their combined effective length is approximately equal to the distance between the pivots 2 0 and 2| when the section II is closed. Accordingly, when the section II is closed, the arms II and I! extend diagonally upwardly and inwardly from a bottom portion of said section. II and together constitute a brace effectively holding the bottom of said upper section and, consequently, the top of the lower section l2, against inward or outward movement under the influence of pressure exerted either inwardly or outwardly against either of said sections. In this connection suitable means is provided whereby the pivot 22 may move inwardly beyond, but only a short discated inwardly from the adjacent end of one of the arms i8 or is and said arm, at or near its said end, maybe provided with a lip 23 for engagement with the outer edge of the other arm. In the present instance the upper end of the lower arm it extends beyond the pivot 22 and is provided with the lip 28 to engage the outer edge of the upper arm I8 when the section II is closed and said pivot 22 is disposed slightly inwardly of a straight line connecting the pivots 20 and 2|. Thus, when the section II is closed, the togglelike brace C is effectively locked against being broken by pressure exerted against either of the sections II or l2 and the adjacent ends oi said eflectively against either inward, or outward movement. In other words, when the section II is closed, the arms i8 and I9 tend constantly to swing inwardly under the influence of gravity. Therefore, when the section II is closed, the pivot 22 tends constantly to assume a position slightly inwardly of a straight line connecting the pivots 20 and 2| beyond which position it cannot move. Inward pressure against either of the sections II or |2 tends, of course, to collapse the arms l8 and I9 inwardly, but since they cannot move inwardly the sections H and i2 are, consequently, held against inward movement. On the other hand, while outward pressure against either of the sections I or J2 tends to produce a straight line relationship of the pivots 20, 2| and 22, the pivot 28 obviously will not move outwardy beyond a straight line connecting the pivots 20 and 2| and will immediately return to its normal position slightly inwardly of said line when outward pressure upon either of the sections H or l2 ceases. The foreshortening of the distance between the pivots 20 and 2| due to the pivot 22 being disposed only a short distance inwardly of a straight line connecting said pivots 20' and 2| is so extremely slight as to be imperceptible. Consequently, there cannot occur any perceptible inward or outward movement of the adjacent ends of the sections II and I2.

Fixed to and extending inwardly from a lower end portion of the lower arm I9 is a bracket 24 to which is connected the free end of a cable 25 suitable manner or, alternatively, said cable may pass over a sheave mounted at the location of the drum 26 and may extend from said sheave either to a suitable power mechanism for pulling thesame or to a suitable point to be pulled manually. In any event, regardless of how the cable.25 or its equivalent is pulled, it operates initially through the bracket 24 to rotate the lowerarm ill on its pivot 2| and to swing its upper end forwardly, thereby moving the pivot 22 forwardly of a straight line connecting the pivots 20 and 2! and destroying the locked status of the brace C. Further pulling of said cable or its equivalent then obviously results in further forward collapse of the arms I8 and I9 and in upward and inward swinging movement of the section II to any desired extent as far as its fully open, substantially horizontal position illustrated by dotted lines inthe drawing. Upon release of the cable 25 or its equivalent, the section II swings by gravity to its closed position and the arms l8 and I9 are swung with said section II and also by gravity to their locked position shown by full lines in the drawing.

While itis not necessary that the pivot 22 be disposed more than a very short distance inwardly of a straight line connecting the pivots 20 and 2| in order to lock the brace C when the I section II is closed, said pivot 22 obviously may be disposed any distance inwardly of such line so long as it is not disposed inwardly of a straight line connecting the pivot 20 and the point of connection of the cable 25 with the bracket 24, and the device still be operable in the manner stated.

Of course, there may be only a single brace C, but preferably there are at least two of said braces located at the ends of the section II, respectively. Moreover, it is obvious that the entire closure may be comprised of only a single swingable section such as the section II.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A brace for a closure of the type which is pivoted at its top for swinging movement between a substantially vertically disposed closed position and a substantially horizontally disposed open position, said brace comprising upper and lower arms pivotally connected together adjacent to their adjacent ends, a pivotal connection between the lower end of the lower arm and a bottom portion of the closure, 9. fixed support, a pivotal connection between the upper end of the upper arm and said fixed support at a point spaced laterally from the pivot of the closure, means limiting movement of the pivotal connection between said arms away from the closure when the latter is closed to a point only a slight distance beyond a straight line connecting the pivots of said arms with the closure and said fixed support, a member fixed to the lower arm adjacent to the lower end thereof and extending beyond the edge thereof remote from the closure, and an operating element connected with said member and extending diagonally upward therefrom contiguous to said brace and at an angle with respect to said brace, when the door is closed, such that a pull exerted on said member has the effect of first swinging said arms to move the pivotal connection between them in the direction of the closure beyond a straight line connecting the pivots of said arms with the closure and the fixed support and ofthen swinging the closure toward open position.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a winding drum, and in which the operating element is flexible and is wound on said drum for actuation by the latter to open the closure.

DAVID E. uomm. 

